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Aim Tamoxifen (TAM) is widely used in adjuvant endocrine therapy for invasive breast cancer as a selective estrogen modulator, but this treatment has a risk of developing endometrial malignancy. However, hysteroscopic findings during or after TAM treatment are unclear. The aim of this study is to examine the association between hysteroscopic patterns and malignant histological findings during or after treatment with TAM. Methods The subjects were patients who received TAM after surgery for breast cancer and underwent hysteroscopy at our institution from January 2016 to December 2019. Clinicopathological factors and hysteroscopic findings were collected from medical records and investigated retrospectively. Histologically, atypical endometrial hyperplasia, endometrial cancer, and carcinosarcoma were classified as malignant diseases. Results A total of 26 patients were eligible for the study. Hysteroscopic findings included an irregular surface of the endometrium (n = 3, 11.5%), atypical vessels (n = 10, 38.5%), papillary structure (n = 3, 11.5%), and polypoid structure (n = 18, 69.2%). Histological examination revealed malignancy in six patients (23.0%). The percentage of atypical vessels in patients with malignancies was significantly higher than that in patients with a normal endometrium or benign lesion (100% vs. 20%, p = 0.0009). The sensitivity and specificity of atypical vessels in hysteroscopy for diagnosis of malignant diseases were 100% and 80%, respectively. Conclusions Hysteroscopic findings of atypical vessels may be useful for prediction of malignant diseases in patients treated with TAM.

There has been a rapid advance in germline multigene panel testing by next-generation sequencing, and it is being widely used in clinical settings. A 56-year-old woman suspected of having Lynch syndrome was identified as a BRCA2 pathogenic variant carrier by multigene panel testing. The patient was diagnosed with endometrial cancer at the age of 39 years, and total laparoscopic hysterectomy and bilateral salpingectomy were performed at the age of 49 years; however, bilateral oophorectomy was not performed at that time. As she had a family history of colorectal cancer and a history of endometrial cancer, Lynch syndrome was suspected. However, germline multigene panel testing revealed a pathogenic BRCA2 variant rather than pathogenic variants in mismatch repair genes. In this case, with conventional genetic risk assessment, we were unable to determine whether the patient had a high risk of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer; thus, germline multigene panel testing may provide valuable information to improve disease management strategies for patients in clinical settings. Particularly, germline multigene panel testing may be useful for detecting hereditary tumor syndromes if a patient does not present with a typical family history of cancer.

Objective As coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) rages on, it is a challenging task to balance resources for treatment of COVID-19 and malignancy-based treatment. For the development of optimal strategies, assessing the conditions and constrains in treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic is pertinent. This study reported about a nationwide survey conducted by the Japan Society of Gynecologic Oncology. Methods We interviewed 265 designated training facilities about the state of their clinical practice from the time period between March and December 2020. We asked the facility doctors in charge to fill a web-based questionnaire. Results A total of 232 facilities (87.5%) responded. A decrease in the number of outpatient visits was reported, and the major reason attributed was reluctance of patients to visit hospitals rather than facility restrictions. The actual number of surgeries decreased by 3.9%, compared to 2019. There was a significant difference when the variable of “Prefectures operating under special safety precautions” or not was introduced. There was no increase in the rate of advanced stages in the three cancer types studied. However, 34.1% participants perceived COVID-19 affected management and prognosis. Conclusion Refraining from visiting hospitals based on the patient's judgment may be expected to be an issue in the future. No significant decrease in surgeries was observed, and it would seem that there were few forced changes in treatment plans, but “the State of Emergency” had an impact. There was no increase in the rate of advanced cancers, but this will need to be monitored., Synopsis Japan Society of Gynecologic Oncology conducted a nationwide survey about gynecologic malignancy in Japan under coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Patients refrained from visiting hospitals which led to reduced outpatient. “The State of Emergency” impacted healthcare but major decrease in surgery was not observed. Patients did not report advanced cancer states, but careful observation is required.

[Objective] Lynch syndrome (LS) is an autosomal dominant inherited disorder caused by a germline pathogenic variant in DNA mismatch repair (MMR) genes. Endometrial cancer frequently precedes another LS-associated tumor. This study aimed to clarify the incidence and features of LS in young Japanese endometrial cancer patients. [Methods] Sixty-five patients aged 40 years or younger, who were diagnosed with endometrial cancer, were enrolled in this study. Targeted sequencing of a hereditary colorectal cancer-related gene panel including the MMR genes MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, and PMS2 was conducted on DNA samples extracted from blood cells. [Results] Overall, 6 missense variants (2 in MSH2, 2 in MSH6, and 2 in PMS2), 1 inframe deletion variant in MSH2, 1 splice variant in MSH2, and 1 two-base substitution in the 3’ untranslated region in MLH1 were detected in 9 (13.8%) patients. Among these, the splice variant c.1276G > T (p.Ile411_Gly426del16) in MSH2 was annotated as pathogenic, while other variants were of uncertain significance. The patient with the pathogenic variant had a family history of endometrial and colorectal cancer and was diagnosed with endometrial cancer at age 35. [Conclusion] The incidence of LS among Japanese endometrial cancer patients of reproductive age (≤ 40 years) in this study was at least 1.5%; however, 12.3% of patients had variants of uncertain significance in MMR genes.

Introduction/Background Hysterectomy,bilateral salpingectomy, and retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy are often performed as standard surgical procedures for endometrial cancer. However, lymph edema and lymphocele, which are adverse effects of lymphadenectomy, degrade a woman’s quality of life. The therapeutic significance of lymphadenectomy has not been established. This study aimed to clarify the impact of lymphadenectomy on the therapeutic outcome. Methodology The cancer database of Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology provided data on 43,779 patients who started treatment between 2004 and 2011. Among these patients, we retrospectively analyzed the difference in overall survival with and without lymphadenectomy in 36,813 patients who underwent initial surgery and had well registered clinicopathological factors and prognoses. In this study FIGO 1988 staging was used. Results The median age was 58 years, and the median follow-up period was 1610 days. Stage I, II, III and IV were 24,296 (66%), 3,313 (9%), 7,362 (20%) and 1,840 (5%) patients respectively. In terms of histologic type, there were 18,406 (50%), 8,098 (22%), 3,681 (10%), and 5,153 (14%) patients with G1, G2, or G3 endometrioid adenocarcinoma, and non-endometrioid adenocarcinoma, respectively. Seventy-three percent of patients underwent lymphadenectomy. Analysis of each histological type showed that prognosis was significantly better in the lymphadenectomy group than in the non-lymphadenectomy group for each histological type. Analysis at each stage showed that prognosis was significantly better in the lymphadenectomy group than in the non-lymphadenectomy group for each stage, except stage Ia. In the low recurrence-risk group (stage Ia-b, G1-2), there was no significant difference in stage Ia, but in stage Ib. A multivariate analysis revealed that the presence or absence of lymphadenectomy was an independent prognostic factor considering age, stage, histological type, and adjuvant therapy. Conclusion Although there is a limitation that various biases cannot be eliminated because of retrospective study, lymphadenectomy for endometrial cancer may have a prognostic improvement effect. Disclosure Nothing to disclose.

To date, the results of the clinical trial of sentinel node navigation surgery (SNNS) for endometrial cancer are not reported, and SNNS should be not yet performed as a clinical practice. SNNS is thought to be performed as a clinical trial in the institutions with enough experiences of SN mapping. Regarding the methods of the tracer injection and tracer detection, the diagnostic accuracy of metastasis, the clinical significance of ITC, or micrometastasis, the oncologic significance of solitary metastasis-positive sentinel lymph node (SN) in para-aortic basin, the usefulness of SN biopsy using surgical robots with fluorescence imaging system for detecting ICG, accumulations of clinical trials, and the data analysis in many facilities are needed so that SNNS comes to be safely performed as a clinical practice. Furthermore, the standardization of the diagnosing method for the pathological search for SN and the establishment of the molecular biologic laboratory procedure are necessary, too. However, we think SNNS will emerge as a promising, elegant solution to the ongoing discussion regarding lymphadenectomy in the initial surgical management of endometrial cancer in order to prevent many patients from receiving oversurgery, in order to properly select patients who need to receive lymphadenectomy, and in order to definitely evaluate the risk of recurrence by using ultra-staging or biological diagnosing method in the near future.

Objective: Reports on the repeated administration of medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) for intrauterine recurrence after fertility-preserving therapy for atypical endometrial hyperplasia (AEH) and early grade 1 endometrioid carcinoma (G1) are lacking. We aimed to clarify the outcomes of repeated MPA therapy in cases of intrauterine recurrence after fertility-preserving therapy with MPA against AEH/early G1. Methods: Patients with AEH or stage IA well-differentiated endometrioid carcinoma without myometrial invasion who underwent first-line MPA therapy for primary lesions or intrauterine recurrence were divided into initial treatment and repeated treatment groups (162 and 82 patients, respectively). Oral MPA administration (400-600 mg/day) was continued until pathological tumor disappearance. Data regarding clinicopathological factors, adverse events, and outcomes following the initial and repeated hormonal treatments were extracted from medical records and analyzed. Results: Complete response rates in the initial and repeated treatment groups were 98.5% and 96.4%, respectively, among patients with AEH, and were 90.7% and 98.1%, respectively, among patients with G1. In the initial treatment group, 5-year recurrence-free survival (RFS) rates were 53.7% and 33.2% among patients with AEH and G1, respectively. In the repeated treatment group, RFS rates were 14.0% and 11.2% among patients with AEH and G1, respectively. Among patients with AEH, the pregnancy rate tended to be lower in the repeated treatment group than in the initial treatment group (11.1% vs. 29.2%; p=0.107), while no significant group difference was observed among patients with G1 (20.8% vs. 22.7%). Conclusion: Repeated treatment is sufficiently effective for intrauterine recurrence after hormonal therapy for AEH/early G1.

Objective Interval debulking surgery (IDS) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) is currently one of the preferred treatment options for advanced ovarian, fallopian tube or peritoneal cancer. This study was conducted to evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of dose-dense paclitaxel plus carboplatin therapy (ddTC therapy) as NAC for these cancers. Patients and methods A retrospective study was conducted in 25 patients with Stage III/IV ovarian, fallopian tube or peritoneal cancer who received ddTC therapy as NAC. For ddTC therapy, paclitaxel (80 mg/m2) was administered intravenously on Days 1, 8 and 15 and carboplatin (AUC 6.0 mg/ml × min) was administered intravenously on Day 1 every 3 weeks. IDS was performed after three cycles of ddTC therapy, and ddTC therapy was also continued after surgery. Results With ddTC therapy as NAC, the response rate was 92% and disease progression did not occur in any patient. Grade 4 hematologic toxicity and ≥Grade 3 non-hematologic toxicity both occurred in 8% of the patients, but no patient discontinued NAC because of adverse events. When IDS was performed, the complete surgery rate was 64% and the optimal surgery rate was 96%. ≥Grade 3 perioperative complications occurred in 16% of the patients, but there were no perioperative deaths. Median overall survival was 35.7 months and median progression-free survival was 17.7 months. Conclusion This study showed that ddTC therapy was considerably effective and tolerable as NAC. The complete surgery rate was high with IDS, and perioperative complications were acceptable.

We previously reported an association between dyslipidemia and endometrial cancers. Osteoporosis is also reported to relate with some cancers. A common etiologic event has been proposed between dyslipidemia and osteoporosis. However, the pattern of interrelationships among dyslipidemia, osteoporosis and endometrial cancer is not well understood. To improve the quality of life of endometrial cancer survivors, these relationships should be determined. This study included 179 Japanese menopausal women who underwent bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, including 114 women with incident endometrial cancer and 65 without endometrial cancer. The women were categorized according to dyslipidemia status. Bone mineral density was measured and compared between groups. Osteoporosis was statistically more frequent in women with hypertriglyceridemia who did not have endometrial cancer. In contrast, osteoporosis was statistically less frequent in women with hypertriglyceridemia who had endometrial cancer. In this cross-sectional study in a Japanese population, osteoporosis was associated with hypertriglyceridemia in post-menopausal women without endometrial cancer, but was less frequent in endometrial cancer survivors with hypertriglyceridemia.

Introduction : Bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (BSO) is a risk factor for osteoporosis. Previous studies have reported an association between genetic polymorphisms and the risk of developing osteoporosis. However, the relationship between osteoporosis and genetic polymorphisms in Japanese women treated with BSO is not well understood. To improve the quality of life for post-BSO patients, it is important to determine the genetic factors that influence their risk for osteoporosis. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between gene variations of estrogen metabolism-related genes and osteoporosis in surgically menopausal patients, which may improve the quality of life for surgically menopausal patients. Material and methods : This study included 203 menopausal women treated with BSO because of gynecologic disorders. One hundred and twenty-six women with artificial (surgical) menopause, who had undergone BSO in the premenopausal period, were compared with 77 women with natural menopause, who had undergone BSO in the postmenopausal period. The women were tested for bone mineral density to diagnose osteoporosis. Polymorphisms of estrogen receptor 1 ( ESR1 ) and UDP-glucuronosyl transferase (UGT) genes UGT2B17 and UGT1A1 were analyzed, and their association with bone mass and osteoporosis was statistically evaluated. Results : No significant association was found between osteoporosis and polymorphisms in ESR1 , UGT2B17 , or UGT1A1 in both groups, suggesting that BSO might be a more significant physiological factor in influencing bone mass density compared to genetic variations. Conclusions : These results suggest that the ESR1 , UGT2B17 , and UGT1A1 polymorphisms are not genetic factors affecting osteoporosis in postmenopausal Japanese women.